Mardi Gras Madness!

04.04.13

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Kelli Fertitta at San Luis

Houstonians, riled up and ready to party Mardi, hit a handful of festive fetes on the Island and the mainland!
The 17th annual “San Luis Salute” gala kicked off at Galveston’s Pier 21, where longtime hosts Tilman and Paige Fertitta clinked glasses of bubbly and welcomed the Knights of Momus duchesses and board members for a reception in a crystal-bedecked tent on the pier next to their yacht.
Later that evening at the San Luis resort’s convention center, nearly 1,500 guests—including astronaut Mark Kelly, Carolyn Farb, Dave and Laura Ward, Diane Lokey Farb, Frank Billingsley and Jim and Dancie Ware—danced the night away to tunes by Kool & the Gang at Galveston’s largest-ever gala.
The colorful evening boasted aerial dancers hanging from the ceiling, a Veuve Clicquot ice bar, male-model greeters barely squeezed into revealing silver-lamé short-shorts, and a temptress offering to top off tipplers’ martinis as she lounged au naturel in a bathtub filled with olives.
The next night, revelers clad in Texas tuxes boot-scooted over to the grand Tremont House hotel in Galveston’s Strand district. Guests were greeted by saloon girls serving shots of root-beer liqueur, and they enjoyed the rockabilly sounds of Jesse Dayton and also the Dr. Michael White Jazz Quartet, as they dined on rattlesnake chili and tasty tamale pie.
After dinner, everyone filtered outside to their VIP perch for the Knights of Momus parade, then continued the party at the Davidson Building across the street. Nine-time Grammy winners Asleep at the Wheel, who played from a stage outfitted to look like a honky-tonk, were a hit.
Back in Houston, the University of St. Thomas celebrated Fat Tuesday in style at the Royal Sonesta. Chaired by Gina and Devinder Bhatia, the 63rd annual Mardi Gras Gala raised nearly $1 million for scholarship funds. Spotted among the sea of purple, green and gold were guests Margaret Alkek Williams, Cynthia and Anthony Petrello, Betty and Jesse Tutor and Alice and Keith Mosing. Photos by Michelle Watson, Daniel Ortiz and Kim Coffman